Here’s to… …Caricom?

Well, here we are on the first Monday in July, enjoying our unique Public Holiday – Caricom Day!! – for the 53rd anniversary of the signing of the historic Treaty of Chaguramas!! Yes Dear Readers…Caricom was “born on the 4th July” – but came into effect on Aug 1, for the obvious reason to make our emancipation more real. Caricom was actually a long time in coming and has a long genealogy of “begetting”- in the Biblical sense!
Caricom was “beget” by the heads of CARIFTA – a free-trade body of the Big Four of Jamaica, TT, Guyana, Barbados and the eight smaller BWI islands. CARIFTA in turn had been begotten after the “British West Indian Federation” of 10 British Territories (British Guiana wasn’t a member) – begat by the Brits in 1958 – had fallen apart in 1962. Why? For the same reason Caricom hasn’t been able to fulfill its goal of moving from the Free Trade Area that was CARIFTA to becoming a Single Market and Economy (CSME) – a real “community”.
To wit… that each of the Big Four is afraid of having to carry the others on their backs. We might all be “brothers” but some are considered “too heavy”! In 1962, Jamaica made the first move after they held a referendum that affirmed their leadership’s desire to go solo. That, of course, made Eric Williams – Trinidad’s PM – utter his famous “1 from 10 leaves ZERO!” No dear reader, he wasn’t mathematically challenged – having received a PhD in economics from Oxford! – but was pointing out that with the departure of Jamaica (one) the 10-member Federation was no more (zero). Both Jamaica and TT got independence that year and henceforth it was “every territory for itself and the devil take the hindmost”!
So the BWI Federation begat CARIFTA which begat CariCom which was supposed to beget the CSME which has been put on “pause” for a decade! And we arrive to the question implicitly posed: “Whither Caricom?” Well, if it’s one thing we should’ve learnt by now is such a question can only be answered by the political leaders of the individual territories. And if history’s anything to go by, each of them will be looking to protect their little fiefdoms – even as they relive past slights. Remember Jamaica once saying they wouldn’t be advised by Guyana, “a nation of panhandlers?” Or then oil-rich TT telling everyone else they “weren’t an ATM Machine”!
But then, it was the Caricom leaders who called out the Sanctimonious Gangster on his blatant rigging attempt. And it was a Caricom institution -the CCJ that’s been upholding our Rule of Law!
Even though right now they’re twiddling their fingers on Sanction Man’s Hail Mary!!

…national pride
As your Eyewitness has been pointing out until he’s hoarse in the throat – the Surinamese are hell bent on “eye passing” us at every opportunity they get!! And when they don’t, they manufacture one!! He’s referring to their Foreign Affairs Minister insisting that Pressie was told two months ago by their president about them going ahead financing the proposed Corentyne River Bridge on their own!! Which, of course, would give them the right to stick it to us on tolls – as they’re doing right now on our boats plying the river.
Our Foreign Affairs Minister just had to issue a statement unequivocally rebutting that canard!! And pointing out that ironically, it was in sympathy with flooding in their country due to heavy rains – which we were also experiencing – Pressie volunteered sending some pumps to them!! Your Eyewitness had criticized our “goodwill” gesture – which the Suris would interpret as “placatatory”!!
Well, now we’ve been kicked in the teeth again he hopes Pressie understands Suris can’t be trusted!!

…PNC’s demise
Looking at the PNC, your Eyewitness is reminded by Yeats’ lament – “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold…The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity.”
Have you seen Black Pudding Man’s rants??